Baseball Broncos take one of four games at Northern Illinois

KALAMAZOO -- The WMU baseball team was swept by Northern Illinois
in a Mid-American Conference doubleheader on Saturday (April 29)
and split a doubleheader on Sunday (April 30) in DeKalb, Ill.

Western Michigan is now 7-13 in MAC play and fell to fourth
place in the MAC West Division. WMU is 19-23 overall. Northern
Illinois moved ahead of the Broncos in the MAC West standings
with the 3-1 advantage in the weekend series. NIU is now 8-10
in conference play, 21-24 for all games. The top three teams from
each division qualify for the MAC Tournament.

Western Michigan's next home action is May 9, when it hosts
Michigan State at 7 p.m. at Sutherland Field, Kalamazoo.

Sunday, April 30

On Sunday, the Broncos lost the opener, 3-2, in eight innings,
but rallied for a 3-0 victory in the second game, also in eight
innings.

Saturday, April 29

In Saturday's contests, WMU fell 9-7 in the opener and lost
a 7-6 squeaker in Game Two. WMU led in both contests but could
not hold off the Huskies.

A five-run second inning gave the Broncos a 5-2 lead in the
opener, but Northern Illinois answered back with two runs in the
bottom of the second to close the gap. The Huskies scored once
in the fourth and two times in both the fifth and sixth to take
the lead and the win.

Josh Clark took the loss in Game One. He allowed two runs in
1 1/3 innings of relief work. Angelo Palazeti started for Western
Michigan. He pitched 4 innings, allowing seven hits and seven
runs, six of which were earned. He fanned one batter.

James Galla drove in four runs on a 2-4 day at the plate. Ryan
Kochen also collected two hits in four trips to the plate. Kochen,
John Toner, and Greg Graham each drove in a run for the Broncos.
WMU committed four errors in the loss.

Western Michigan led 4-2 after three innings in the nightcap
but saw the Huskies tie the game in the bottom of the fourth.
NIU added a solo run in the fifth to take a 5-4 lead. After WMU
scored twice to take a 6-5 lead, Northern Illinois scored twice
in its half of the sixth.

John Toner went 2-4 with a run scored and two RBI. Ryan Kochen
was 3-4, scored twice, and drove in a run. Joe Seestadt collected
two hits in three trips to the plate. He also drove in a run,
as did Chris Richter.

Matt Vriesenga was tagged with the loss. He allowed one run
in a 1/3 of an inning. Sophomore Keith Perez got the starting
assignment. He allowed five runs, all earned, and nine hits in
four innings. He fanned three and walked three. Shawn Morrison
threw 1 2/3 innings of relief, allowing one run and two hits.